kangaroosa

Yeah i know about the time factor from past experience...but i fall for it everytime. I'm from Melbourne and originally i approached Head Stud Development in Moorabbin to port my head (i was referred to them, as they do alot of work for the corolla club cars and race cars here in melbourne). When i went there, they had a fully setup race car getting some work done on it, and the boss races a hot pink HQ. So i figured he obviously knows what he's doing - which he does when it comes to cylinder heads - but he's not so good with motors as i have now learnt. He actually had a 5K sitting down the back of his workshop, as it was left over from a previous client who ran out of money and left it with him. It cost me $500 for the complete block and new hypertec pistons. It cost me $1200 by the time it was all machined up and assembled - which i thought was a good deal. I got quotes for my 4k to be rebuilt and they all came in around the $1100 mark. He had done these engines in the past, so i figured it was safer to get him to build it, as he knew what exactly had to go into it (other engine reconditioners said they hadnt really modified a 5K to that extent). Anyway, i'll call him tommorow and tell him that i'm bringing it back for him to fix.

Yeah new cars are nice. I guess i'm just getting frustrated with the whole car. I ordered the motor 7 weeks before chritsmas. The bloke told me that it would be 2 weeks - instead it stretched out to 7 weeks, and i got the motor 3 days before christmas(which pissed me off because i wanted to have the new motor in and run in before the christmas break so i could get away for a while - instead i was left with a 4k with a blown head gasket, which used 1/2liter of water over 3 days). Now its halfway through january and the new motor is still not running properly. I don't want to seem like i'm whinging, but i hope you can see the amount of shit and incompedence i have had to go through for a simple motor. Makes me wish i had gone back to the first bloke that machined 4k years ago (i dropped off the parts and within 3 days i had it all back and assembled). That motor has been through hell and back for 4 years and is still running nicely - except for the blown head gasket.

i can actually afford to pay cash for a 2004 rodeo. But i'm in the market for a house and can't justify spending $35,000 on a new car when i can just keep this one going. By the way, a 2004 rodeo is not my dream car (its just what gets me around for now). I've had my corolla for 6 years, and its my first car. First cars are always the hardest ones to sell (hence my hesitation to sell it).

I've called it quits - I going to drop it into the engine builder and say here's the keys - you fix it. It sounds like the noise is coming from within the block (either a lifter, or problem with the cam). You might see ke30 for sale in a week - judging by the way i feel at the moment. Currently i'm driving a company car (Holden Rodeo 2004), its got enough power, its comfortable and reliable. I was driving home the other day and was thinking, why the hell did i just spend $2000 on a corolla (as much as i love my car) - when i could have put that money to something newer. Ohh well - Look out for the add -hehehe

I got lucky with the oil - everything is covered in oil except for me. All of the other tappets are adjusted and are acceptable. They all were a bit noisey, so i guess they are solid. As for this one noisey one - its got me beat what causing it. I just ran it for a few mins then and the clearance is now less than 0.012". Even if i set the clearance to 0.012 and then run the car and re-check it - the bloody clearance changes to either much less 0.012" or is about 1mm. Either way, its still noisey.

Heres the latest cock-up with the 5k. One of the exhaust lifters is noisy. I've adjusted all the exhaust lifters to 0.012" while its warm. But there is always one noisey exhaust lifter. I've adjusted numerous times on the compression stroke ans so on. I have had the engine running with the rocker cover off and put a feeler gauge under the tappet, which stopped the noise. It had no more clearance than the other lifters - but then i ran the motor and when i turned the motor off, the clearance on the exhaust lifter was about 1mm. I don't want to adjust the lifter again incase something is wrong. At the moment, its the engine builders fault - I'm not in a hurry to make it my problem. As far as i know, its got holden solid lifters - i had people telling me that its a broken lifter because they are hydraulic - so like i said, as far as i know its a solid lifter. Any ideas people?

My 3k big port had port dimensions of.... Intake 30mmx32mm and Exhaust 20mmx26mm.

I have lowered my ke30 3" at the rear and 2 1/2" at the front. With stock 13" rims, the top of the tyre is level with the gaurd. At the front i used the rear springs from and EB FORD Falcon. They are exactly the same diameter across, but they are also a thicker gauge coil. Get a pair of these from the wreckers and choppy choppy. My car is low and stiffer than standard. I don't have any problems with the struts (they have never broken). If you decide to chop some springs - just make sure you chop the top of the spring off, so the bottom of the spring is still flattened out, and will locate itself in the strut. The rear leaf srings have been reset and had an extra leaf put in - they too are stiff as all buggery. I don't know if the ke70 has the same diameter springs as the ke30, but its worth looking into if your going for the cheap option. I first enquired at pedders for lowered springs, and their lowered spring were exactly the same height, coil diameter, and amount of coils as my standard ones. I didnt risk wasteing the money and went for my option instead.

The engine was flushed and fully rebuilt - Its brand new (almost). The radiator is my original one - It was drained on friday for the engine change and sat in the shed lying flat with as much water as it would take (so it wouldnt dry out). I flushed it out with a hose sunday morning and fitted back into the car a few hours later. I had a blown head gasket a while ago, so i added some coolant sealant additive into the radiator (which fixed the problem for a few weeks until i got my new motor). I don't know if some of this could be blocking the radiator. But like most people say, the standard fan should do a better job. Thanks for all the help guys - I'll get back to you after i get the reco radiator and fit the standard fan and shroud. I'll have to check the timing again - when i checked it with the timing light - it was a bit hard to see the timing marks (even with liquid paper on the mark. I'll get back to you on this topic in a few days, when hopefully i'll have it all sorted out.

Hrmm - Thats a long way from where my temp is at the moment. (96 degrees). But i'll wait for the new radiator and install the standard fan and shroud and remeasure the temp then. Where is this temp measured from? I measured the 96 degrees from the the top of the radiator. Whereas i also pulled the thermostat cover off to check that the thermostat was opening up (which it was, since its brand new). Anyway the water temp in the thermostat housing was 84 degrees. The thing that shits me, is that i have an aftermarket temp gauge plugged into the another outlet on the thermostat housing (about 20mm from the standard temp sensor) and it reads about 55 degrees - when an actual digital thermometer reads 84 degrees in the same spot. I have the same drama with the oil pressure gauge. When i first start the car it has about 40psi of oil pressure - then once the motor warms up, the gauge drops to 12-15psi (but if i tap the throttle, the oil pressure obviously comes up). Is 12-15psi too low for idle or not? OR IS THE STUPID GAUGE TELLING LIES, LIKE THE TEMP GAUGE. I guess i should add that i paid about $50 for three gauges. I thought that would get me accurate gauges. (Oil pressure, Water Temp and Amps)

Correction - The water level did drop, but not as much as i expected, compared to my previous experiences with the 4k after replacing head gaskets. So i did have to top up the radiator (but not very much at all). A few hoses were leaking at the start, so water was getting circulated. Like i said previously, all leaks are now fixed.

Thanks for the comment on the normal operating temp, i was actually wondering what a healthy temp was, now i know. Anyway the Water pump is brand new - Thermostat is brand new - No leaks - Fan Belt is tight. I'm pretty sure all the plumbing is correct except for the two heater hoses. I think they are right. The hose out the back of the head connects to the upper heater pipe (which has the tap built into the pipe). The lowerheater pipe is connected to hose that runs to an outlet on the left hand side of the water pump (if your looking at it from the front of the car). The main problem i noticed was that when i first filled the radiator up full and started the engine so it warmed up and so on - the water level never dropped in the radiator (which every other time it's has on previous motors). I opened the valve located on the front of the block to see if there was an airlock or something - but only coolant came out. Like you mentioned - I'll just run the standard fan and shroud once i get the radiator back from being reconditioned. If i find that its not enough (which it should be i guess) i'll look at mounting the thermo fan on the front of the radiator as a back up. What do you think?? Also i was wondering if there is anything that they can do to my radiator to help it cool better. I have mates with v8's and they used to talk about 3 core radiators or something down those lines. You think anything like that is possible for my radiator? OR do you know of something that bolts into my ke30 corolla and is more efficient?

Yep, Its all running and goes good from what i have seen. Its still being run in so i havent giving it a hard time yet. But coming from a 4k to now a 5k, you can notice a heap more torque down low. The only problem i have with it, is that it runs pretty hot. The hottest the radiator temp got to was 96 degrees - which by the way, i don't think is too goood for the new motor - let alone any motor. Thats just over 3/4's on my temp gauge. Currently i have discarded the standard fan and installed a 12" high powered thermo fan, as reccomended by Davies Craig the manufacturer. So tommorow i am taking my spare radiator to get reconditioned and see what they can to do help me out with this problem. Worst case scenario, I will install the standard fan with the shroud and maybe mount the thermo fan infront of the radiator as a backup. There's now so much under bonnet heat and no constant fan to try and move some air around, under the bonnet. So i'm still thinking the problem through. I'm open to suggestions by the way. I might post a new topic later and see what other people have done to combat the problem. By the way, i'm not driving to and from work because i don't want to cook the most expensive part of my car. Hehe. So instead i'm driving my old mans XF.

Thanks guys - i took a punt, from what i've read and have already done what jamie suggested. The car runs great except for it running a little warm.

I have an electronic distributor (nippon denso i think) fitted to a 5k motor, and it has two wires coming out of the body. I've been told that one is positive and one is negative. Can anyone tell me where each of the two wires should go? Thanks in advance

At the moment is a standard straight runnder manifold with a single weber. I plan to run twin carbs later on. Still deciding on a redline manifold with twin side draft carbs or something else?? Its in limbo at the moment. Cam specs i think are similar to a ford 6cyl spec grind. (at least i heard something like that mentioned) This is what the engine builder put on the sheet i gave to the ignition place to recurve my distributor. Cam duration @ .050" lift 229degrees Cam/Valve Lift: .295 / .442 9.5:1 compression Capacity: 1544cc Hope thats enough for now. Soon as its all done i'll take some pics for you if you like. The car is lemon yellow tinter (the brightest yellow you can buy off the shelf in acrylic). Its been lower 2 inches at the rear (i had the leaf springs reset and a an extra leaf put in. Front has got lowered springs from the rear of an EB ford Falcon. The springs are exactly the same diameter, but the coils are a heavier or thicker gauge. So they pop straight in and are nice and stiff (once you chop them). Making sure you chop the top off, so the flat base of the coil sits nicely in the spring support on the strut. The top of the spring i attacked with an angle grinder to flaten it off a bit, so it wasnt putting pressure on the tip of the spring. Its sounds dodgy and probably is - but i check it occasionally to make sure nothing is wearing out.

I forgot to add that i'm from the south east melbourne region. I forgot to mention that the shaft for the dipstick to slide through looks exactly the same as a 3k/4k. The only visual difference i can see from the outside, would be, maybe the depth of the sump - which would effect the reading. Also if i was to just fill up the engine with the correct amount oil including the oil filter and mark the dipstick that way - How much oil is the correct amount to put into a 5k? Thanks again

Thanks - I look forward to hearing from you - I have to get the motor in today or tommorow so i can get to work on monday, so if its not too much drama to get back to me soon, i would greatly appreciate that. The motor is basically- Standard 5k rods and crank Hypertec Flat top Pistons from a Gemini Datsun 1200 push rods Holden 6 cyl Soild lifters Solid regrind on the 5k cam Race port and bigger valves and 3k big port head/ twin valve springs Re-curved electronic distributor and scorcher coil to suit Pacemaker Extractors Exedy Heavy Duty Clutch lightened standard flywheel Makeshift LSD diff setup from tayell automotive 12" thermo fam I'll have more exact figures in a few weeks when i contact the engine builder. Thanks again and look forward to hearing from you.

Demuire Yeah thats what most people think - Truth is yes if i have the gains on the amps wound right up. I used to do that years ago when i was cruising with mates to mainly shit stir all th P platers in their commodores - hehe. These days i have the amps backed right off. It used to be fun pulling up at a set of lights next to a P plater and playing a bass test. I have a ke30 2 door sedan. So the rear windows that open out, used to move about 15mm outwards with each bass beat. The worst bit was the huge bass beats that actually knocked the breath out of you for a second and the constant draft on the back of your neck as the sub woofers moved all that air in such a small car.

I'm in the process of installing a 5k into my ke30 sedan. Although i noticed i don't have a dipstick for the 5k - so i was wondering if anyone knew if a 3k or 4k dipstick is interchangable with a 5k motor? I'm happy to hear any suggestion as to what else would fit. The 5k is estimated at 140hp with datsun and holden internals, so i don't mind if a dipstick from another model fits, and indicates the right oil level.

i have a 550cca in my ke30. I have 4 x 10" JL sub woofers - 6x9's in the back and 6" splits in the front and 2 kicker amps in the boot. I bought my battery for $120 bucks at K-mart and has been going strong for 3 years now.